Sex-Positive Youth Groups Call on New Government to Improve Sexual Health

 

World Sexual Health Day, observed on September 4 annually, provides the opportunity to galvanize action for the promotion of sexual health for all, irrespective of age, race, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, health status, national origin or any other human characteristics.

The reality, though, is that every day should be Sexual Health Day. Every day, people are faced with the issues of early sexual debut, unsafe sex practices, the contraction of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV, and the lack of access to sexual health information and services. Young women, girls, youth, sex workers and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other queer (LGBTQ+) people are most affected. 

According to “The Situation Analysis of Adolescent Pregnancy in Guyana” Report (UNICEF, 2018), Guyana recorded the second highest rate of adolescent pregnancy in Latin America and the Caribbean, with 19 to 22% of girls becoming pregnant before the age of 18.

In 2014 alone, UNICEF found that 15% of adolescents between the ages of 15 and 19 began childbearing and that 62% of adolescents between the ages of 15 and 19 have an unmet contraception need. Additionally, Guyana has noticed an increase in HIV and other STIs among the youth demographic.

Further to this, discrimination, stigma, fear, and violence prevent many people from accessing basic sexual health services.

The Government must do more to realize our legal right to the highest attainable standard of health. Article 24 of the Constitution of Guyana provides that every citizen has the right to free medical attention.

Let us be clear: Guyana must do more for vulnerable groups and their sexual health. And therefore, ASPIRE Youth Network - Guyana, Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association’s Youth Advocacy Movement, SASOD Guyana and SRHR Adventures call on the new PPP/C Government to:

·        Invest in training for healthcare workers to deliver confidential, youth-friendly, and non-discriminatory services;

·        Invest in mobile clinics and tele-medicine to deliver sexual health services and care during the COVID-19 pandemic;

·        Provide PrEP for those at substantial risk of HIV infection in accordance with WHO guidelines;

·        Promote sexual health information on all media platforms;

·        Conduct age-appropriate, comprehensive sexuality education in schools; and

·        Support civil society organisations as partners in addressing sexual health issues in Guyana.

Because sexual health matters; today and always.

ASPIRE Youth Network – Guyana            

Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association’s Youth Advocacy Movement

SASOD Guyana

SRHR Adventurers

Call to Action to the New PPP/C Government on Priority Issues for the First Year in Office on International Youth Day

 

International Youth Day (IYD) provides the opportunity to recognize the power of all youth, including those often left behind with unmet needs. The theme for IYD 2020 as prescribed by the United Nations, “Youth Engagement for Global Action,” highlights the importance of placing young people at the center of social justice and advocacy, especially when human rights and dignity of people are threatened and restricted.

For over 17 years, SASOD Guyana has been defending and promoting the rights of vulnerable groups in Guyana, including LGBTQ+ persons and marginalized youth who are subject to discrimination, violence, and persecution, for simply being who they are.

Together with local and regional partners, SASOD Guyana fought tirelessly to bring an end to the archaic law against cross-dressing, which was struck down by the Caribbean Court of Justice, almost 2 years ago. We have trained hundreds of police officers on issues related to gender and sexuality, and how to interact with LGBTQ+ youth. Notably, SASOD Guyana continuously documents abuses and offers pro-bono legal services to young women, girls, marginalized youth, and LGBTQ+ persons, as they seek to pursue justice against violators of their human rights. But we all must do more for, with and by them.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the situation of poverty, unemployment, and violence faced by youth further inhibits their potential to lead healthy and promising lives.

While the recently installed PPP/C Government has included some young people in its Cabinet, its sincerity to addressing issues affecting youth will be measured by its actions.

In the spirit of IYD 2020, SASOD Guyana calls on the new PPP/C Government to implement these top 5 actions for marginalized youth in its first year in office:

1.      Repeal sections 351 to 353 of the Criminal Law (Offences) Act which criminalize same-sex intimacy between consenting, adult men in private.

2.     Include sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression as prohibited grounds for discrimination in the Prevention of Discrimination Act (Section 4).

3.     Introduce Comprehensive Sexuality Education all schools in Guyana to provide young people with the tools they need to make more informed decisions to either delay their sexual debut or prevent teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, if they choose to be sexually active. Comprehensive sexuality education would also inform students about diverse sexualities and genders, and reduce targeted bullying of LGBTQ+ students in Guyana’s public schools.

4.     Provide access to housing for LGBTQ+ people, especially children, who have been temporarily displaced or rendered homeless due to bias violence.

5.     Provide comprehensive and accessible entrepreneurial training programmes for vulnerable groups, especially LGBTQ+ youth, and make capital accessible to start up small businesses through grants and low-interest lending schemes.

SASOD Guyana asserts that these top 5 actions, coupled with supportive programmes, will move the needle for marginalized youth and advance equality for all young people.

 

STATEMENTS BY THE PRESIDENT OF MEXICO ON THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE CONAPRED

June 22, 2020

The Coalition of LGBTTTI Organizations of Latin America and the Caribbean working within the framework of the OAS, made up of the undersigned organizations, reject the statements made by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to the National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination (CONAPRED).

The National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination CONAPRED, is the leading institution for promoting policies and measures to contribute to cultural and social development, to advance social inclusion and to guarantee the right to equality, which is the first of the fundamental rights in the Mexican Federal Constitution.

CONAPRED has been a key institution for the advancement and guarantee of the human rights of the most vulnerable populations, including LGBTTTI populations. From this Coalition we have seen its work on different occasions such as:

·    During the 47th General Assembly of the OAS held in Cancun, Quintana Roo, in 2017, ensuring a space free of discrimination for organized civil society.

·    With the preparation of the Survey on  Discrimination  on the Grounds  of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity ENDOSIG 2018.

·    By promoting the signing and ratification of the Inter-American Convention against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance in 2019 and 2020.

Requesting the resignation of its head and affirming the possible disappearance of this institution are actions that represent a very serious setback to the advancement of our rights and it is for this reason that from this Coalition we pronounce ourselves against it and make a strong call to stop the attacks against it, to reinforce its valuable and necessary mission and, above all, to strengthen its work with a greater budgetary allocation.

The National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination deals with around six thousand complaints a year from people who believe they have been discriminated against, promotes dialogue between different sectors of our society, both nationally and internationally, and has been key in generating reliable information that has provided accurate data on discrimination in Mexico.

With a clear agenda and tangible results, despite a small budget and limited staff, CONAPRED, today more than ever, needs to strengthen its independence and capacity for action. We reiterate our commitment to this institution and request that its importance be reassessed.

To disregard the work of the National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination (CONAPRED) is to disregard the fight for the advancement of human rights and the work of organized civil society, which in 2003 led to the issuance of the Federal Law for the Prevention and Elimination of Discrimination, which gave rise to this Council.

The  following  organizations  signed  on  as  part  of  the  LGBTTTI  Coalition of Latin American and Caribbean organizations working within the framework of the OAS:

 1.  Argentina ‐ AKAHATÁ Equipo de Trabajo en Sexualidades y Género

2.  Argentina ‐ ATTTA (RedLACTrans)

3.  Belize ‐ TIA Belize (RedLACTrans)

4.  Belize ‐ United Belize Advocacy Movement (UNIBAM)

5.  Bolivia ‐ Red Nacional de Mujeres Trans en Bolivia (REDTREBOL) (RedLACTrans)

6.  Bolivia ‐ Fundación Diversencia

7.  Brasil ‐ Articulação Política das Juventudes Negras

8.  Brasil ‐ Grupo Ativista de Travestis, Transexuais e Amig@s (GATTA)

9.  Brasil ‐ Grupo Esperança
10. Brasil ‐ Liga Brasileira de Lesbicas (LBL)

   11.  Brasil ‐ Rede Nacional de Negr@s e Afros LGBTTT (Rede‐Afros‐LGBTTT)

   12.  Canada* ‐ *The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network – Canada (*Associate Member*)

   13.  Chile ‐ Asociación OTD Organizando Trans Diversidades

   14.  Chile ‐ Corporación Chilena de Personas Trans Amanda Jofré (RedLACTrans)

   15.  Colombia ‐ Asociación Lideres en Acción

   16.  Colombia – Caribe Afirmativo

   17.  Colombia ‐ Colombia Diversa

   18.  Colombia ‐ Fundación Santamaría

   19.  Colombia ‐ Red Comunitaria Trans (RedLACTrans)

20.  Costa Rica ‐ Mulabi ‐ Espacio Latinoamericano de Sexualidades y Derechos

21.  Costa Rica ‐ TRANSVIDA (RedLACTrans)

22.  Costa Rica – Asociación Ciudadana Acceder

23.  Dominica ‐ Dominica Chapter of the Caribbean HIV and AIDS Partnership (DomCHAP)

24.  Ecuador ‐ Asociación Alfil (RedLACTrans)

25.  Ecuador ‐ Taller de Comunicación Mujer

26.  El Salvador ‐ Asociación Aspidh Arcoiris (RedLACTrans)

27.  Grenada ‐ Grenada Chapter of the Caribbean HIV and AIDS Partnership (GrenCHAP)

28.  Guatemala ‐ Organización Trans Reinas de la Noche (OTRANS) (RedLACTrans)

29.  Guyana ‐ Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD)

30.  Honduras – Asociación para una Vida Mejor (APUVIMEH)

31.  Honduras ‐ Colectivo Unidad Color Rosa (RedLACTrans)

32.  Jamaica ‐ Equality for All Foundation (J‐FLAG)

33.  México ‐ Letra S SIDA, Cultura y Vida Cotidiana

34.  México ‐ Red Mexicana de Mujeres Trans (RedLACTrans)

35.  México ‐ Fundación Arcoíris por el Respeto a la Diversidad Sexual A.C.

36.  México – Las Reinas Chulas, Cabaret y Derechos Humanos, A.C

37.  Nicaragua ‐ Red Nicaragüense de Activistas Trans (REDTRANS)

38.  Nicaragua ‐ ODETRANS (RedLACTrans)

39.  Panamá ‐ Asociación Panameña de Personas Trans (RedLACTrans)

40.  Panamá – Fundación Iguales

41.  Paraguay ‐ Aireana Grupo por los Derechos de las Lesbianas

42.  Paraguay ‐ Asociación Panambi (RedLACTrans)

43.  Paraguay ‐ Asociación Escalando

44.  Perú ‐ Centro de Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos (PROMSEX)

45.  Perú ‐ Instituto Runa de Desarrollo y Estudios sobre Género

46.  Perú – Trans Organización Feminista por los Derechos Humanos (RedLACTrans)

47.  Regional ‐ Caribbean Forum for Liberation and Acceptance of Genders and Sexualities (CARIFLAGS)

48.  Regional ‐ Red Latinoamericana y del Caribe de Personas Trans (REDLACTRANS)

49.  Red de Trabajadoras Sexuales de Latinoamérica y el Caribe (RedTraSex) 

50.  Regional ‐ Synergía – Iniciativas por los Derechos Humanos

51.  República Dominicana ‐ Comunidad de Trans Travesti y Trabajadoras Sexuales Dominicana COTRAVETD (RedLACTrans)

52.  República Dominicana – Diversidad Dominicana

53.  St. Lucia ‐ United & Strong Inc.

54.  Sub-Regional ‐ Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE)

55.  Suriname ‐ Women's Way

56.  The Bahamas ‐ The D’ Marco Organization (RedLACTrans)

57.  Trinidad and Tobago ‐ CAISO

58.  Uruguay ‐ Asociación Trans del Uruguay (ATRU)

59.  Uruguay ‐ Colectivo Ovejas Negras

60.  Venezuela ‐ Venezuela Diversa Asociación Civil

61.  Venezuela ‐ Diversidad e Igualdad a Través de la Ley (DIVERLEX)